During the last couple of years I have seen more than 100 bands perform and I can tell you that they all should have been at the Universal Amphitheater to see how a master entertainer interacts with the audience. There are many great musicians out there but very few are true entertainers like Sammy Hagar. Sammy and his Waboritas put on a 2 1/2 hour show that was non-stop fun from start to finish.

Behind the stage was a small balcony with stairs on each side where 75 or so extremely lucky contest winners got the best seat in the house. The band is comprised of Sammy on vocals and guitars of course with Vic Johnson sharing lead and rhythm duties with him. Vic would shine when Sammy would lay down his ax and just sing for the crowd. The bass player Mona is a fiesty little fireball and at one point took the vocal lead from Sammy not letting have the mic back until after the song. Keyboards and Drums were handled quite nicely by Jesse Harms and David Lauser who also provided nice back up vocals.

At first I was a little disappointed that there wasn't an opening act but when I remembered the tremendous amount of great material that Sammy could draw from I knew that we would be in for a great show. Playing material from every phase of his career from Montrose on through to present day. Some of my favorites played were" Three Lock Box", "Where Eagles Fly", "Red", "Bad Motor Scooter" and way to many others to name. I picked up his new CD "Ten 13" (his birthday) before the show and he played a number of songs from it including "Shaka Doobie", a serious rocker and the seriously grooving "Serious JuJu".

When I say that Sammy is an entertainer it means that he knows how to make the audience feel they are part of the show as they are being entertained. Some of the antics on stage included an on demand thong wearing, gorgeous waitress bringing drinks at his beckoning which was quite often. Numerous undergarments where thrown on stage with one being sniffed, a couple worn, and all of them hung on the mic stand. Drinks were shared with many in the audience, some drinking theirs, others wearing theirs. At one point he filled a fans Bota bag with tequila, autographed it and took a shot. Tons of agriculture was tossed on stage and he took a break to share some with the drummer. Another time he walked through the mini on stage balcony hugging and high fiving with many and commenting that somebody grabbed his package. Something I personally admired was that he must of autographed 100 items ranging from signs, pictures, some breasts I believe, and dozens of T-shirts as fast as he could as he was literally being pelted with them. To me this shows a true appreciation the fans that come out to the shows. Oh yeah, did I mention that while this was going on Sammy and the band played some great music. It was an incredible show, definitely my best of the new millenium if not all time. I'll be checking out www.redrocker.com to see when the next show is coming to town while I'm saving dough to go check out his club "Cabo Wabo" next "Ten 13". If you would like to abuse the author contact him at www.revnkevin.com.